Give! will surpass $422,000

Publisher's Note

Tools

One of the goals of Give! is to reach out to younger donors, those under 40 who may be thinking of philanthropy for the first time in their lives. To encourage this, all donors in their 20s and 30s who gave between Dec. 9 and Dec. 31, 2010 were eligible to win a $50 gift card to Mountain Chalet and a night at The Broadmoor. Because of Give! 2010's outrageous success and the generosity of those businesses, we've decided to give away two prize packs, and the winners are:

With 3,100-plus donations; more than 120 print, TV and radio profiles of participating nonprofits; the work of 130 Air Force Academy and community champions, and $336,872.44 in donations from local individuals, Give! 2010 has exceeded our already-lofty goals.

Another $85,000 in matching and challenge grants is still to be awarded, along with determining which of the 40 Give! nonprofits will receive a state-of-the-art website from CoPilot Creative and a three-year strategic plan compliments of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence's Front Range Executive Service Corps (FRESC).

All said, Give! 2010 will distribute more than $422,000 in cash, plus immeasurable in-kind donations, volunteer time and exposure, to the 40 worthy nonprofits who participated in this second annual, end-of-year fundraising campaign powered by the Independent.

We've mailed out thousands of reward packages to our donors (thanks to the generosity of dozens of local businesses, along with Baseball Hall of Famer Rick "Goose" Gossage, former pro football receiver Justin Armour, the U.S. Figure Skating team, Olympic and Paralympic athletes from the U.S. Olympic Training Center, and Colorado Poet Laureate Dave Mason). We've worked our dear colleague Amy Sue Lambert at the Pikes Peak Community Foundation into the ground. We've called in every last technical favor from the oh-so-patient experts at CoPilot Creative, and have monopolized the airwaves, social media sites, blogosphere, etc. spreading the gospel of Give!

So now it's time to give a public shout-out to our three colleagues at the Indy who did so much: Amanda Lundgren, Jack Ward and Sally Piette. And to the individuals, businesses and foundations for the $85,000 in challenge and matching grants: Advanced Billing, Asthma and Allergy Associates, Bee Vradenburg Foundation, Joanne Bonicelli, Colorado Springs Osteopathic Foundation, Compassionate Care Veterinary Services, Ent Federal Credit Union, El Paso County Bar Association, El Pomar Foundation, the Freda Hambrick Fund of El Pomar Foundation, Front Porch Giving Circle, Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado, the Independent, Joseph Henry Edmondson Foundation, Nor'wood Development, Old Town Bike Shop, Pikes Peak Community Foundation, Pikes Peak Community Foundation's Carma Fund, University of the Rockies and several anonymous grant donors.

Believe it or not, we're already getting ready to do this all over again. The call for local nonprofits to apply to be part of the Give! class of 2011 will go out in less than 60 days.

If you or your organization wants to explore participating as a nonprofit, offering a matching or challenge grant, providing a donor reward, or serving as a volunteer champion, please send us an e-mail at give@csindy.com and we'll make sure you're in the know.

We can't possibly say this enough to everyone involved in Give!, but thank you, thank you, thank you. This community is stronger, healthier and more vibrant because everyone joined together.

For this is the truth: We all do better when we all do better.

Independentpublisher John Weiss and associate publisher Carrie Simison-Bitz served as the Give! 2010 co-chairs.